Jeremy D. Morley concentrates on International Family Law. The firm works with clients around the world from its New York office, with a global network of local counsel.
Mr Morley is the author of "International Family Law Practice", the leading treatise on international family law in the U.S., and "The Hague Abduction Convention", published by the American Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a former law professor.

Friday, June 29, 2007

How can one parent stop the other parent from taking a child to visit a dangerous country?

How can a parent make sure that a child will be returned if the other parent takes the child to visit his or her native country?

Many international parents are justifiably becoming increasingly concerned about the answers to these questions.

I have just written an article - published in the July 2007 issue of The Matrimonial Strategist and now also available on my website - describing "Ten Key Tips for Parents" that I have developed as a result of handling these issues for parents around the world.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The Supreme Court of New Jersey has unanimously upheld a decision allowing a Japanese mother to relocate with her six-year old child from their home in New Jersey to Okinawa, Japan over the strong objections of the American husband. The primary concern of the husband was that the provisions for his visitation with his daughter were unenforceable in Japan. MacKinnon v. MacKinnon,Supreme Court of New Jersey, June 11, 2007.

The ruling should be understood strictly in the context of its specific facts and as being based on the limited evidence with which the courts were presented. The decision does not stand for the (false and extremely dangerous) proposition that Japan recognizes or respects foreign custody orders or rights of visitation.

In particular, it is important to note that the courts below were not presented with any expert evidence concerning Japan’s failure to enforce foreign or domestic custody and visitation orders, or as to its failure to recognize foreign custody orders or even any right of parental visitation.

The father relied primarily on the fact that Japan was not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Court upheld the ruling of the courts below that simply because a country has not signed the Convention should not automatically bar relocation to that country. The father also submitted a U.S. State Department note to the effect that “foreign parents seeking enforcement of visitation rights are disadvantaged in Japanese courts,” but failed to submit any other evidence concerning Japanese family law.

Instead, the Court placed great reliance – and took great comfort – in the fact that the mother had previously taken the child to Japan for visitation on several occasions, had always returned the child as promised, had genuinely acknowledged to the satisfaction of the trial court that the father loved the child and that she was anxious to maintain the father’s relationship with the child, and had a history of having scrupulously obeyed all court orders in the past.

Thus, the case must be seen as being limited strictly to its specific facts. The Court relied on the evidence of the mother’s good faith rather than upon any determination concerning the Japanese family law system. It is a fact that Japan does not return abducted children and does not enforce foreign rights of visitation. See Jeremy D. Morley, Japanese Family Law - or The Lack Thereof!, http://www.international-divorce.com/d-japan.htm.

In almost every situation, if a Japanese parent chooses to retain a child in Japan against the wishes of a foreign parent and in violation of an American or Japanese court order, he or she will get away with it. Id. If Mrs. MacKinnon were to choose to ignore those provisions in the New Jersey trial court’s order that require her to allow the father to have extensive visitation with their child, the father will be powerless to compel her to do so as long as she stays in Japan. However, such facts were not before the Court.

While the Court in MacKinnon suggested that future international relocation applications should be conditioned on securing mirror orders in the foreign country, or enforceable contracts, this would not work in the case of Japan, which has no concept of a mirror order and which in any event would never enforce its own order or a contract between parents in such a case. Id.

What this case stands for is the proposition, amply emphasized by the New Jersey Supreme Court, that each case must be viewed individually, on its own particular facts, so as to “permit our courts to flexibly and properly address the myriad, nuanced issues created by family ties that cross international boundaries.” Thus, the Court stressed that in the international removal context, “we afford our trial courts the means to adapt to the variety of unique circumstances presented in family law proceedings.” Every case must be determined on its own facts.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

South Africa’s Court of Appeal has blasted the failure of the courts below to order the prompt return of a child, now aged five, who was wrongfully retained in South Africa away from his then habitual residence in the Netherlands by his mother for 3½ years. The Court ordered (June 4, 2007) that the child now be returned immediately to the Netherlands, in compliance with South Africa’s obligations under the Hague Child Abduction Convention.

Judge Belinda van Heerden expressed great concern at the “dismal failure” of South Africa’s courts and its chief family advocate to act expeditiously and to secure the child’s prompt return, stating that proceedings "in the present case were anything but expeditious. Some three and a half years have elapsed from the time of the boy's wrongful retention in SA in December 2003. The boy has spent most of his young life in this country.”

Judge van Heerden also stated that, "The training of South African judicial officers in the principles and procedures underpinning the convention also appears to be less than that required by SA's obligations under the convention. It is to be hoped that these shortcomings will receive the prompt and proper attention of the relevant authorities."

Friday, June 01, 2007

The American Bar Association’s Section of International Law will hold its “Fall Meeting” at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London, England from October 3 – 6, 2007.

A session entitled “International Family Law for the Globetrotting Executive” will be held on Thursday, October 4, 2007 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm chaired by Jeremy D. Morley, attorney-at-law in New York City, with presentations from him, Anne-Marie Hutchinson, OBE (Dawson Cornwell, London) and Suzanne Kingston (Dawsons, London).

Description: Complex international family law issues are an occupational hazard for globetrotting executives. International travel is great for business and pleasure but terrible for marital stability. A globetrotter’s legal adviser is expected to have hard data and brilliant strategic advice at the ready but in the real world accurate information and useful “big picture” advice is hard to find. In this fast-moving program, some of the world’s leading experts on international family law will provide practical, useful and straightforward advice concerning:

·International prenuptial agreements;

·Strategic international divorce planning;

·International divorce jurisdiction;

·Which law governs the international divorce?

·International child custody and international child abduction.

·An international family lawyer’s “Top Tips for the Globetrotting Executive.”

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About Me

Jeremy D. Morley was admitted to the New York Bar in 1975 and concentrates on international family law. His firm works with clients around the world from New York , with a global network of local counsel. Mr. Morley is the author of "International Family Law Practice," the leading treatise on international family law in the United States. He is also the author of “The Hague Abduction Convention: Practical issues and Procedures for Family Lawyers.” He is the former co-chair of the International Family Law Committee of the International Law Section of the ABA. He is a member of the International Academy of Family Lawyers. He was born in Manchester, England and has taught in law schools in the United States, Canada and England. Mr. Morley frequently lectures on international family law topics to the judiciary, bar associations and others. Mr. Morley is frequently asked to appear as an expert witness on international child abduction prevention and recovery issues. Mr. Morley has been a frequent guest on television and radio shows on the topic of international child abduction and international divorce law and has been featured in the print media on numerous occasions.